It’s only in recent years that companies are allowing the flexibility of working from home. The idea of having employees working away from the office used to be a detrimental one. This is because there was no way for teams to interact away from the office, so projects that were done as a team would slow down. There’s also an element of control that most employers like, as their staff are all in one place and can be managed effectively. This is where most businesses make their mistakes!
Employees are still people. Grown adults with their own thoughts and abilities, and like with anything you cage, it will clamour for freedom. No one likes a long commute to work. No one likes to be squashed in the subway, on the bus or in traffic in the freezing rain. No one likes to be micromanaged in their job. People like trust, freedom of expression and the ability to work autonomously. Teams work better when the people working together are happy in what they are doing, and companies are making a mistake when they think close management of staff is the right way to go. There are a lot of reasons that you should consider allowing your employees to work from home, but we’ve got three of the best for you below:
- Perks. Have you any idea how much respect an employee holds for an employer who tells them to work wherever is best for them, as long as the work is done? Huge. Huge amounts of respect and loyalty. With the introduction of cloud computing and hosting with companies like iozoom.com, companies now can allow employees to work from home and all share access to data together. This is a huge company perk to have, as you attract staff who are strong enough to work efficiently and to the right deadlines without needing a look over the shoulder.
- Money. Money makes companies progress, and the less you spend, the more profit you have. If you allow people to work from home, you will be spending less money on office space. Sure, you may stipulate that everyone comes together twice a week for meetings and catch-ups, but that doesn’t mean you have to rent a huge office space, does it?
- Productivity. One of the things that employees find about going to work is that spending eight hours a day in front of a computer is mind-numbing! You want to encourage productivity and you cannot do this by forcing people to feel chained to a desk. Employee productivity rises when people can take control of their environment, so don’t close your mind off to the idea of remote workers!
Your company needs to thrive, and to do that, it needs people who want to be there. Staff retention is difficult in this job market, as people are more picky over their surroundings and want to feel valued. Listen to what your people want and benefit from it yourself in profits, loyal staff and happy customers!
